The Riddler
The Riddler is a secondary antagonist in Batman: The Enemy Within. One of the first "supervillains" to operate in Gotham, he terrorized its citizens during the time Thomas Wayne and his allies controlled the city. Eventually disappearing, Riddler returned to terrorize the city as a member of the Pact, a criminal organization the villain assembled through heavy recruitment of thugs, escaped convicts, and guns for hire throughout the globe and Gotham's seamy underside. Planning to get revenge on the Agency and SANCTUS, his actions quickly drew the attention of Batman to his and the Pact's operations. Biography Little is currently known about the Riddler's past, except that his forename was "Eddie", possibly shortly Edward, Edgar, or Edwin. It's unknown what his last name was. According to Alfred Pennyworth, Riddler began his criminal career in Gotham, during the years it was controlled by Thomas Wayne, Carmine Falcone, and Mayor Hamilton Hill. He would terrorize the city for some time, which lead to the trio giving him his own berth to operate out of. However, during the midst of his criminal career, he disappeared so suddenly that many people believed he had died. In reality, Riddler had been approached by the Agency, a government organization with multiple complaints about unethical operations, to join them, having seen his potential in their scientific division, SANCTUS. During his time there he did research for many of their top secret projects , including Project LOTUS, an experimental virus with regenerative capabilities. After multiple failed tests, Riddler was accidentally dosed with the virus in an accident. Though expected to die, he instead survived, though this had the unfortunate side effects of a psychological breakdown and emerging Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Narcissism. Riddler was kept within the confines of SANCTUS for years, with the effects of Project LOTUS being monitored. Eventually, he would be able to escape the organization and installed a backdoor into the SANCTUS network, ensuring he could access the files he needed to expose the Agency and get his revenge on the organization. Riddler eventually made his presence known when he broke the inmates out of Peña Duro Penitentiary on Santa Prisca, murdering the warden in the process. It was during this attack that he met the criminal Bane, who would become both a close ally and friend. After this, he gained the attention of the Agency and its current director Amanda Waller. Later he was almost captured by them while in Sudan, but managed to escape. At some point, he became acquainted with Selina Kyle/Catwoman, after hiring her to steal from the Louvre. He would often work or hire her afterwards, becoming a frequent contact for her. Eventually, Riddler was approached to join or formed the Pact, a group of criminals assembled by an unknown source, and became the leader of the group. When putting their various gangs and resources together, Riddler planned an attack on SANCTUS and get his revenge on the organization. In return for their help, the other members would receive LOTUS to cure the various ailments they were suffering from or wished to cure. He also approached Selina Kyle/Catwoman to join them, but she declined. When Riddler returned to Gotham with the Pact, he learnt of the vigilante Batman and his war on crime. Against the wishes of his fellow members, the Riddler decided to attract Batman's attention, hoping to eventually kill him, and to make his return known to the authorities and civilians. For his, he decided to attract Waller's attention and draw a number of the Agency's operatives to Gotham, targeting and killing the ones they sent. For his plan, Riddler created a long ranged signal and made a deal with Arms Dealer Rumi Mori to receive radio-wave guided homing missiles. With the necessary components collected, Riddler planned to hack the agents' phones, make them produce the guidance signal and, after allowing it to play long enough, fire a radio-wave guided missile to their locations. After Mori bowed out, Riddler set up plans to murder Mori in retribution. He also began putting his own criminal organization together, consisting of some of the more intelligent criminals he could find. One such was Eli Knable, who became his second-in-command. Batman: The Enemy Within The Enigma In the weeks coming up to the Pact's attacks, Riddler and his men confronted Mori within his own casino, the Virago. When a security guard tried to escort him out, he murdered the guard and locked down the building. After taking hostages, the Riddler then place Mori in one of his death traps and promised to let him out, if he successfully solved a riddle. During the commotion, Batman appeared and incapacitated a number of his men, including Knable. As Riddler held Batman at knifepoint with his cane, the vigilante ordered Commissioner Gordon to raid the casino. Stunned at this turn of events, Riddler fought with Batman, but was easily overpowered by the vigilante. Deciding to make his escape, he activated the death trap to murder Mori, hoping it would distract Batman long enough for him to escape. However, the vigilante was able to disable the trap and confronted Riddler on top of the Virago's statue. Stunned on why he had saved Mori from certain death, Riddler was once again defeated by Batman. After detonating a bomb to open his escape, Riddler then left Batman a puzzle box. Threatening to kill others including Mori unless Batman was able to solve the puzzle, he destroyed the statue's supports and made his escape. Batman would be able to solve Riddler's box, but only found a signal emitter inside. Due to the Batcave having a scrambler installed, the missile was unable to fire and locate the Batcave. After taking it to Wayne Enterprises to look at it closely, the signal was allowed to play long enough to send a detonation order, resulting in the minor destruction of Wayne Tower and the death of Lucius Fox. During the next week, Riddler purchased an abandoned Water Tower in the East End of Gotham and created another death trap within it. He also set up a supercomputer capable of breaching SANCTUS's security and another trap to guard it from both the Agency and other members of the Pact. After kidnapping Special Agent Mario Fernandez, he took him to the trap he had set up and forced him to solve it, promising a hint to what he was planning for the Agency. Fernandez was unsuccessful and was killed by the ultra-sonic emitter. Batman and Gordon would later discover the trap, thanks to a tip the vigilante had received from one of his contacts. Using evidence they were able to find, pointing to Fernandez's mistakes, Batman and Gordon were able to solve the puzzle, finding one of the homing missiles bought by the Riddler. The criminal then appeared on screen, revealing his past with the Agency and tried to explain their responsibility for his condition. During this, Riddler also mocked Batman for not telling Gordon about his connection to the rocket being fired at Wayne Enterprises, knowing he had a connection to Lucius Fox. Later that night, Riddler retreated to his personal barge, the Lady of Dublin, along with his men. He was also able to locate and kidnap four of the Agency's agents, including Iman Avesta and Vernon Blake, placing them within death traps. As he and his men prepared to murder the agents around Gotham, Batman arrived, having retrieved a location from either a deal with Mori or interrogating Knable. As he defeated the Riddler's goons, he made an attempt to knock out the criminal with his Bat-Stunner. However, the criminal had prepared for this, as he was wearing protective materials under his suit. As Batman released Avesta from her trap, the Riddler activated a trap to hold Batman. He then revealed himself to be conscious and showed the vigilante where the missile launcher had been hidden. With the vigilante now in his grasp, the Riddler threatened to murder the other hostages, unless Batman solved three simple riddles. However, in solving these, he and Avesta would be blasted by the sonic devices he had set up in their cage, which could kill her within those three blasts. Depending on Batman's decisions, two possibilities will happen. Comply with Riddler=Batman complies with the Riddler's plan, solving the riddles and allowing himself and Avesta to be blasted with the ultrasonic blasts for the agents' lives. However, during the final riddle, Batman instead uses a drone provided by Tiffany Fox emit the signal, directing one of the missiles towards the cage. Furious at the turn of events, Riddler fires the rest of the missiles to kill the other agents, but these are directed by the drone into Gotham's river, where they can detonate without harming anyone. Batman then defeats the criminal and places him in bonds. Though he admits defeat, the Riddler mocks the vigilante for having harmed Avesta and rendered her deaf to save the other hostages, commenting that his "friends" would have been proud. |-|Refuse or get the answer wrong=Batman refuses to answer one of or both of the riddles, leading Riddler to murder one or both of the agents. He will also kill the agent if Batman gets one of the riddles wrong. During the final riddle, Batman uses a drone provided by Tiffany Fox emit the signal, directing one of the missiles towards the cage. Furious at these turn of events, Riddler fires the rest of the missiles to kill the other agents, but these are directed into Gotham's river by the drone, where they can detonate without harming anyone. Batman then defeats the criminal and places him in bonds. However, the Riddler considered it a victory, having made Batman kill the agents, even if it was indirectly, and break his rules. Riddler revealed that he had set the plan up to draw Pact's attention and show them how impressive he believed he was. Realizing that one of their former comrades may have set him up, he was shot by a poisoned dart from a drone, operated by Lucius Fox's daughter Tiffany. As he died, Riddler mentioned how they had "broken the Pact", causing Batman to realize that "John Doe" and "his friends" had been involved. Legacy The Agency would place the blame on the GCPD for Riddler's death and later take his corpse into possession. Batman would also take his cane, which he kept in the Batcave to remember his victory over the criminal. Hoping to extract samples to replicate a usable version of LOTUS, they placed it into a cryogenic unit to preserve it and transfer the corpse out of the city. After learning Riddler's death, the Pact put together a plan to retrieve his corpse, so that they could access the secret location of SANCTUS's lab and Project LOTUS. After they retrieved a Phalanx Key and EMP generator from Wayne Enterprises, they attacked the convoy set to escort him and collected his body. With assistance from Catwoman, they would duplicate his eyes to fool the retinal scanner and access the files. After learning about SANCTUS, she would attempt to stop them in retribution for his death and Lucius Fox's, ultimately leading to her working with Batman. The Pact would also keep Riddler's body, so they could retrieve bloods samples to synthesize non-lethal versions of Project LOTUS and cure their various ailments. Unfortunately, during their attack on SANCTUS's labs, the Agency would steal the samples and drain the blood from it, leaving the case damaged. With this, Riddler's body would decompress at an accelerated rate, ensuring the Pact couldn't get any more samples. The remaining samples were later destroyed by Avesta, to ensure the Agency couldn't use them as bargaining chips for the Pact's cooperation. Riddler's murder would remain unsolved for weeks, leading the Agency to blame "John Doe", now the vigilante/villain Joker. However, he was not responsible and depending on whether he becomes vigilante or criminal, he either is wrongfully blamed by Waller or deduced that it was Tiffany Fox. Batman would eventually discover the truth when she either confessed to save Waller's life or was forced to reveal it to him during Joker's game. Depending on whether she joins Batman's activities, Tiffany would either see her actions as justified or regret doing so. If she had learnt who he was, Batman can also give Tiffany over to the authorities for her actions. Personality Despite his high intelligence, the Riddler was brash and arrogant, taking pleasure in beating his opponents and believing himself to be superior to his victims and pursuers. Riddler also seemed to be sadistic, taking pleasure in seeing his victims either scared or be gruesomely injured. Riddler would also leave elaborate clues and puzzles behind at his crimes, believing that the people who would not be able to solve them, something which he was proven wrong on many occasions. He was also willing to kill civilians or put them at risk, as seen when he ordered one of his men to execute a hostage to distract Batman. The Riddler was considered extremely dangerous, even by other criminals who were equally or even more powerful then him. Alfred mentions how he was so feared back in the day that even Hill, Falcone and Thomas Wayne — an unstoppable triumvirate of political and criminal power in Gotham — knew to keep their distance from him. Justifiably so, as his actions would go on to prove in his attacks on Gotham. Equipment Costume Riddler's costume consisted of a dark green suit jacket, a purple shirt, a green tie, dark green trousers and a pair of black leather shoes. To hide his identity, he would also wear a green domino mask and a hood, the latter of which seems to been sown to his suit jacket. Riddler also wore a golden question mark on his left lapel and black gloves, to prevent him from leaving evidence that could lead to the authorities learning his identity. It is unclear how much protection he wore, but it is known that he had equipped a device that neutralized Batman's Bat-Stunners during their final confrontation. Cane Riddler would wield a golden-topped black cane during his crimes, which he used as both a weapon and a tool during his crimes. The top of this cane was stylized as a question mark, though the inside of it was sharp enough to cut human flesh. Riddler would use this as a method of execution of his victims and within combat with his opponents, using the hooked edge to grab at his enemies and objects to use in combat. The hook could also act as a grappling hook, with a button to detach and fire it at specific objects. This also came with a pulley system to pull the Riddler towards his target. The cane also had a multitude of different buttons on it, which could act as transmitters to activate or operate devices and contraptions, such as explosives and his death traps. Riddle Boxes Riddler would often leave these boxes at his crimes, believing that his pursuers would not be able to solve them. These would often consist of elaborate puzzles, including riddles and methods to reshape them, and clues to his plans. Riddler would also place advanced circuitry within them for the purpose of challenging his opponents, such as one where the person had to manipulate waveforms to access their next clue. Death Traps Riddler would use death traps (or "murder boxes", as other people called them) to either taught his victims or challenge his opponents. These would consist of many different machines or devices, including controllable saw blades, sonic blasters and a multitude of different devices, most of which he made himself. One such was used on Rumi Mori, where he was trapped within a small glass chamber and his fingers were removed for each time he got the solution to a riddle wrong. Another trap, set for Batman, forced the vigilante to solve a puzzle whilst coping with a sonic blast if he got a riddle right, or killing an Agency agent if he refused or got it wrong. Relationships Allies *Selina Kyle/Catwoman - Friend and Occasional Employee *Eli Knable - Right-Hand Man *The Pact - Friends and Business Partners **John Doe **Bane - Friend **Harley Quinn **Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze Enemies *Bruce Wayne/Batman - Rival *Rumi Mori - Former Business Partner turned Enemy and Torture Victum *Gotham City Police Department **James Gordon **Renee Montoya *The Agency - Former Employers turned Bitter Enemies and Torturers. **Amanda Waller **Mario Hernandez - Murder Victim **Iman Avesta - Possible Torture Victim **Vernon Blake - Possible Murder Victim * Tiffany Fox - Murderer * Gotham Criminal Triumvirate External Links Category:Criminals Category:Antagonists Category:Characters Category:Deceased Category:The Pact Category:Season 2 Characters Category:Villains Category:Male Villains Category:Main Villains Category:Gotham Residents Category:The Agency Category:SANCTUS Category:Martial Artists Category:Psychopath Category:Vengeful Category:Bosses